Comet PANSTARRS (March 2013)

[RobertM]

Well, I'm here at Otford and its clear at the moment so fingers crossed it'll stay like it for a short while !

[The Thing]

Good luck!

[Fay]

think i may pay a visit tomorrow

[RobertM]

Good luck!

Bu66er - clouded out

Might try again tomorrow if the weather plays a straight game

[Fay]

oh dear. i am in garden too cloudy  really been nice in the west when clear bits   

[mickw]

Managed to find it last night above the bank of clouds on the horizon 
So obsessed with seeing the bloody thing I didn't realise how close it was to M31 (apparently) so missed the opportunity for a peek 

Saw Jupiter and Orion and quite a few of those white spotty things but can't remember what they're called 

If the sky's clear and it's above freezing, I might even venture outside tonight 

[Fay]

what time will that be for tonight for a view? is it still around sunset? how high from the horizon as difficult to know where Andromeda is when still light & not having been outside for 3 months!!!

i may venture to the car park

[mickw]

I was looking at about 7:45, it was darkish and it was pretty high - didn't bother to check height 

It should be the same tonight but BST 8:45 or thereabouts and it's towards north west.

If you can figure out where Andromeda should be, the comet will be below it.

Laziness and lack of sky has put me way out of practice 

[Fay]

well if sunset is 7.30. it will be well dark at that time. is that right?

[mickw]

Yes but not very

[RobertM]

I was there at 6:45 last night but we had to wait a while, I'll get there at 7:30 8:30 if its clear.

[Fay]

will see you there Robert

[The Thing]

I posted "Success!" at 8:04pm GMT when I returned to the car and had packed up tripod, binos etc. It was pretty dark by then so take a torch! Presumably that's now 9:04pm BST or does the timestamp on a thread change with the seasons!

[Fay]

so when looking across the field from car park, in what area should one look Duncan?

[The Thing]

Fay, if you use the link I posted you will see a cricket pitch, this is now a football pitch. Stand just past the left goal post and look left towards the tall floodlight pole at the end of the other football pitch (see the satellite photo). You should see something called a 'sunset'. If not you are too early or too late to see the comet. Follow a line between this and Polaris and that is the track of the comet. It's reached M31 at the moment and that's easy to find in binos even if it's quite low (around 20deg up when it's dark enough to make out). Cassiopeia  was easy to spot so you shouldn't have a problem. I've got an app on my phone so it was very very easy .